Idea Basket: How to Embark on Digital Nomadism

Dreaming of travelling the world while working? Digital nomadism is no longer a distant dream. Here are 8 tips to help you make a decision and embark on digital nomadism soon.

It’s incredible how much attention a photo of someone in swimwear by a pool during work hours can receive. Or how an office with a view of the sea (or situated by the sea) can provoke reactions.

Yes, I’m talking about digital nomadism and its online appeal. And if you’re considering combining work and travel, I’m here to provide some insight and ideas to help you start your journey into digital nomadism.

If the idea of “digital nomadism” makes you want to drop everything and catch the next flight, keep reading. It’s likely that at some point in this post, you’ll feel it’s feasible.

However, if you’re picturing yourself lounging under a coconut tree, enjoying mango-sticky-rice while working on your computer for a couple of hours, let me set the record straight.

Being a digital nomad often means dealing with unreliable internet connections, working from noisy coffee shops (usually someone else’s), and facing power outages during important client meetings. Living without a fixed routine isn’t always easy.

Besides that, the flexibility of working online from anywhere allows us to explore the world, create new experiences, connect with people from different backgrounds, and witness breathtaking places. Digital nomadism can provide relief from seasonal changes, ensuring you never have to endure winter again. We have the freedom to live and work wherever we choose, make spontaneous decisions, and relocate as needed. And the good news is, becoming a digital nomad is much simpler than you might think.

Wait, what??? Yes, you heard right.

If you know how to operate a computer, have decent English skills, and internet connection, there’s a chance that digital nomadism is for you.

What is digital nomadism?

Digital nomadism is the ability to earn a living from online work not tied to a geographic location. In other words, working remotely, earning money (hopefully in a strong currency), and living in different places around the world.

It’s important for me to mention that digital nomadism allows people to live on budgets of $700-1200 per month in Asian or African countries, so it’s different from “everywhere”. People who work “from anywhere” are those who earn a lot of money and can sustain themselves remotely, even from expensive European countries.

What skills do you need to embark on nomadism?

My blunt answer is that as long as you have a computer, internet connection, and decent English, you’ll probably find something to do.

The internet is full of jobs like “remote office services” or “content writing” that almost anyone can successfully fill. The thing is, these jobs won’t make you a lot of money. And to thrive, I believe you need to earn almost as much as you would in your home country.

If you prefer structure and want to travel while maintaining a steady income, consider learning skills such as paid marketing, copywriting, graphic design, SEO, or web development. These are skills you can utilize from anywhere, and you can start learning relatively quickly (though mastering them may take time).

You can also leverage your existing knowledge to teach others online and start earning money in your first month as a nomad. Everyone has valuable knowledge to share, so don’t hesitate to share yours with the world.

In my view, the most crucial qualities for success as a digital nomad are adaptability, flexibility, curiosity, and problem-solving skills

These are the qualities that will turn your nomadism into a journey of development.

The Bright Side of Nomadism

Making Money to Spend on Adventures

During our first year of nomadism, we managed to stay in 5-star hotels in Zanzibar, South Africa, and Thailand. We swam with dolphins, climbed lions’ heads, slept with zebras, watched lions on safari, dined in luxury restaurants, and woke up in luxury tents on a rugged mountain (all documented on my Instagram account). And yet, at the end of the year, we found that we had saved a lot of money. How much? More than you might think.

The second half of our first year of nomadism took place in Thailand. This means we lived a very high standard of living at half the price we would have paid at home.

We stayed at a 5-star resort with a 54-meter pool right outside our window in a small apartment with high-quality art and finishes. The truth is we could have cut this cost by at least a third and found a cheaper place. That’s the significant advantage of nomadism: living high, paying little.

If you choose to nomadize in Southeast Asia or parts of South America, you can enjoy an excellent quality of life for $1200 a month. Of course, to achieve the same standard of living at home, you would need at least three to four times that amount.

A significant step towards becoming location-independent.

Traveling the World

Digital nomadism gives us peace of mind.

We work four days a week and travel on our long weekend, which is Friday to Sunday.

One of the “perks” of this lifestyle is that we choose each time where we want to settle.

In Zanzibar, we chose to stay almost in the same place for a month and a half, only going out for short day trips each time. While in South Africa, we moved every 3-4 days to a different place. For almost 4 months, we were in every part of the Garden Route, staying on a horse farm, a cliff house, and in Oudtshoorn with pigs and cows (true!), we were in the wine region and moved between houses and vineyards, climbed lions’ heads, Table Mountain, and mingled with penguins. It was a period full of experiences and sights that we will never forget in our lives.

These days we are in Thailand, but we are already planning a trip to Eastern Europe in the summer and ending with a performance by Ed Sheeran in Paris.

The Dark Side of Nomadism

Life away from home can be stressful and guilt-inducing.

It needs to be understood that choosing nomadism means leaving friends and family and transferring all interaction to Zoom and WhatsApp.

This lifestyle, at least for me, sometimes evokes loneliness and difficulty. I miss the warmth and closeness of people who are not just my significant other.

It means not being present at others’ birthdays, looking at pictures of friends who continue to deepen their relationship without you, and not seeing family for a long time.

I always remind myself that nomadism is a choice, and every choice has a price. Right now, I’m willing to pay that price. But it’s not cheap for me.

Ready for it?

Here are 8 ways to become a digital nomad:

1. Delay Nomadism for a Year

If you’re not rushing into digital nomadism immediately, look for a job that will teach you skills to work online. In fact, this is a way to make money to learn something meaningful that will help you realize the dream of nomadism. Look for a job in digital marketing, paid advertising, or website building. These are skills that will accompany you and help you develop later on.

Additionally, you can acquire clients independently and start to experience what it’s like to work remotely, manage clients, payments, and deliver results.

2. Transcription

With today’s video content frenzy, many project managers are looking for people to transcribe the videos they edit or produce.

You are welcome to look for work in transcription, and maybe even, over time, learn video editing and provide services of adding subtitles to video content.

3. Proofreading and Linguistic Editing

If you happen to be a language enthusiast, know the linguistic rules, and enjoy work, look for work in proofreading and editing. You can do it from anywhere, and after reading many texts, you can develop writing or marketing writing skills.

4. Data Entry

Data entry may be a good place to start if you have no skills in the online world. And as long as it pays the bills, why should you care?

The significant advantage is that it does not require experience or formal education, so most people find it easy. I’ll say it’s obvious, it’s not an exciting job, but it’s a pretty straightforward and boring job. So people pay for it to be done. It’s important to know that if you choose this path, you will enter data for hours at a time. This is the starting point if nomadism is your dream.

5. Not Just Work – Online Studies

Now with Corona, when all studies have become online, you can go on a digital nomad journey and study!

True, it’s not a job, but your livelihood will be cheaper during your student life while you complete a degree, take a professional course, or develop skills.

6. Do a Keren Reitler

I moved my business online through two months of intensive work.

I adapted my website, made adjustments to my products, and added new services. If you already have a business, move it online.

Yes, there are adjustments to be made and also to talk to customers and explain that from now on, meetings are on Zoom and not face-to-face, but today most service providers can do it from anywhere in the world.

By the way, I met yoga teachers, tattoo artists, and even linguists who work anywhere they go and document it on social networks and create buzz wherever they go. So nomadism is not just digital.

7. Do an Alex Kogan

Before we went nomadic, Alex persuaded his workplace to allow him to work without physical presence in the office. And guess what? They went for it!

Today, in the era of Corona and the proof that you can be productive from anywhere, you can try to speak to your workplace to allow you (even for a limited period) to work without the need to come to the office.

You’ll be surprised, especially if you’re important talent to the system, they’ll be willing to compromise with you.

8. Invest in Remote Job Search

Today there are plenty of office jobs that can be done from anywhere in the world. And following Corona, more and more companies allow their employees to work remotely. The only condition is to invest in work and mark and fulfill tasks.

If your managers haven’t realized that remote work is the life, just look for another job online.